The Golden Snidget
by Rose9797
Summary: Sirius, Harry, Remus and Tonks play a game of Quidditch in Potter Manor and they learn why Harry is the youngest Seeker of the Century. Family fic. An outtake from my current story 'Dysfunctional' but is a standalone one-shot.


**The Golden Snidget**

_Sometime during the holidays…_

"Come on, Remus! It'll be fun!" whined Tonks, tugging Remus' sleeve and Harry too, nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm not a good Quidditch player," said Remus, shaking his head. "And besides there aren't enough brooms."

"Oh, yes there is," floated Sirius' voice from the banister as he came down the stairs, clutching two brooms in his hand, his dad's old Shooting Star and a brand new Nimbus 2002.

"When did you get a new broom?" asked Remus quizzically.

"I did promise Harry, that I'll get one for myself, last summer," said Sirius. He looked at the new broom, "It would have been a waste of money getting a _Firebolt_, seeing as I don't need one. Still, it's always better to have a good broom, I say."

He extended the new broom towards Remus, who looked disbelieving. "I am not riding that broom! It's been ages since I even stepped foot on one."

"Actually, it's been only a year or so, seeing as we left Surrey in brooms when all of you came to kidnap me," said Harry.

Tonks snickered when Sirius' smile widened, "I have a better idea."

Harry snorted when he heard Remus mutter to himself, "Oh, no."

But Sirius went on, as if he hadn't heard Remus. "The best players get the worst brooms and vice versa. That way, we'll all be evenly matched."

"So, Remus can keep my _Firebolt_," said Harry, handing Remus his broom. Remus grimaced as he accepted the _Firebolt_ when Harry hastily added, "Uh, no offence."

Remus smiled wanly and he held the _Firebolt_ at arm's length, "None taken. I _am_ the worst Quidditch player you will ever meet."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, Moony," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. He handed the Nimbus to Tonks who looked ecstatic, "Wow, I get to ride first on your new Nimbus!"

She took her Comet Two-Sixty that was propped along the wall near the door and handed it to Sirius, who then gave James' ancient Shooting Star to Harry.

"I'm very honoured to have this distinction," said Harry, dryly.

All three of them broke into laughter before they set off to the backyard. They would be playing Two-A-Side Quidditch, with all of them playing Chasers and Harry and Sirius were additionally also Seekers. They were using an old Quaffle and Snitch that Sirius had fished out from the attic.

Harry and Tonks teamed against Remus and Sirius and the game began. The weak winter sun glistened off of the blanket of snow beneath them, and Harry found it hard sometimes to keep his eyes open, against the blinding white all around him.

Harry's broom was not so bad, but it was nothing compared to his old Nimbus 2000, let alone his _Firebolt_. The only saving grace was that it did not stutter too much when he turned sharply and it had belonged to his dad after all. Tonks and Sirius were evenly matched with their swapped brooms, and they were zipping to and fro swerving and tossing the quaffle to Harry or Remus respectively.

After fifteen minutes, Harry and Tonks had scored four times while Sirius had scored just once.

"You're riding a ruddy Firebolt!" yelled Sirius in annoyance. "If you don't fly any faster than that, I'm trading team players!"

"You were a Quidditch player yourself and you scored only once!" shouted back Remus.

The game progressed very differently with Remus having either gotten used to flying the _Firebolt _or simply more determined. After half an hour, they were tied 70-70. Both Harry and Sirius were not even searching for the snitch, as they were too preoccupied with scoring goals.

Just when Harry tossed the Quaffle to Tonks, Harry saw something glint out of the corner of his eyes. He turned and bolted straight down at the fluttering thing.

"Harry's seen the snitch!" yelled Tonks, excitedly and Harry yelled back at her in annoyance, "You're not supposed to give me away!"

Now, Sirius was bound to follow him.

oOo

Remus, who had been flying straight at Dora, used her distraction with Harry wisely and he punched the Quaffle out of her hands. He turned to pass it quickly to Sirius, who was nowhere to be seen. He stopped mid-air and took a moment to admire how effectively the _Firebolt_ had braked, before snapping up to see Sirius, flying upwards determinedly.

"What the bloody hell is happening?" came Dora's voice as she looked left and right.

Remus realized that both Harry and Sirius were chasing after the Snitch, albeit two very different ones. Sirius was on his left, shooting up and Harry was on his right, swooping down.

He looked at Dora bemusedly, who shrugged and shook her head, apparently as confused as he was.

A chorus of "YES!" resounded and they watched Sirius and Harry pause in mid-air to look at each other simultaneously, one high above and the other hovering near the snow-covered grass.

Harry seemed confused as he looked at the snitch between his hands and then actually yelled out in surprise.

Sirius immediately frowned as he shouted, "What's happened?"

Harry was descending downwards and everyone followed suit. Remus felt safe again with his two feet on the ground and turned to look at Harry, who was holding the snitch in both his hands as if it was something precious. "Er… you have to see what I just caught."

Curious, Remus leaned forward along with Sirius and Dora and all three of them gasped.

"What is that?" asked Remus as he looked at the small ball of gold fur, wriggling in Harry's gloved grip. Dora was staring open-mouthed, "They're really rare!"

"Blimey! It's a Golden Snidget!" exclaimed Sirius, eyes wide as he stared at it wondrously.

"What is a Snidget?" asked Remus, confused that all three of them knew something that he didn't.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course _you_ wouldn't know!"

"Surely, you've read _Quidditch Through The Ages_?" asked Harry, surprised.

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, right."

Dora put her hands on her hips, as she looked at him disbelievingly. "Remus Lupin, are you telling me that you haven't read _Quidditch Through The Ages_?"

"No, he hasn't!" said Sirius. "If I'm not mistaken, I believe he said 'it wasn't very academic.'"

Harry was laughing, "You're just like Hermione!"

_Well, that was a compliment in his books_. "Now that we've had fun lamenting my lack of Quidditch knowledge, would someone tell me what a Snidget is?"

"It's what they used as a snitch during the early years of Quidditch," piped Harry, as if Remus had just asked him a question in class.

"That's what a snitch is made to look like, since Snidgets are nearly extinct now," said Dora, indicating to Harry that she wanted to hold it. Harry gave the little bird to her and she cooed. Remus was slightly distracted watching Dora pet it that he was startled when all three of them gasped in unison.

The Golden Snidget had opened its eyes, which were glinting like a pair of rubies. Apparently, Dora's petting had eased the scared bird, enough for it to take a look around him. On closer inspection, Remus could make out its long, thin beak similar to a hummingbird and its golden wings which were tucked into its body protectively.

"You know what this means?" asked Sirius, grinning at Harry.

Harry frowned, "What?"

"Even though Remus and I get the 150 points because I caught the snitch—" He showed the actual snitch, feebly beating its wings, encased in his hand. "—one hundred and fifty galleons to Harry Potter!" exclaimed Sirius, happily. "I knew my boy isn't the youngest Seeker of the century for nothing!"

oOo

**A/N: This is an outtake from my on-going story, **_**Dysfunctional**_**. I wrote this around four months ago and when I stumbled across it now, I thought it would serve well as a one-shot. The Golden Snidget is mentioned in Dysfunctional Chapter 47 (Before the Storm) just in passing as Fred and George having it. **

**You can find its history on Pottermore which says that Quidditch originally involved winning one hundred galleons for catching the bird (which is extremely hard to catch), and it then evolved to 150 points for catching the Snitch.**

**I had originally planned to include a scene where Harry and Sirius give it to Fred and George, so they can register it with the Ministry. But I cut off that unnecessary plotline and you're left with just this one-shot. Let me know what you think!**


End file.
